Indiana men’s golf headed up to South Bend, Indiana, on Sunday to take part in the Fighting Irish Classic. The Hoosiers finished 13th on the weekend.
Fifteen teams competed on the par 70, 7,020-yard course. The tournament was headlined by the No. 6 University of Tennessee, No. 20 Duke University and other schools including the University of Louisville, Michigan State, Purdue and the University of Notre Dame, which all received votes in the Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Poll’s most recent rankings.
Indiana sent five golfers to try to take first on the weekend: senior Robert Bender III, junior Clay Merchent, sophomore Cole Starnes, sophomore Alec Cesare and sophomore Nick Piesen.
Indiana finished at 32-over-par as a team, leaving it in 14th place at the end of Sunday. Cesare led the Hoosiers at 5-over-par, 145. Notre Dame led the tournament after day one, sitting at 2-over-par.
Following the Fighting Irish in the tournament rankings was Louisville, which had two of the top three golfers on the day and ended at 3-over. The University of Arkansas-Little Rock rounded out the podium with a 4-over-par first day.
The Hoosiers attempted to rebound on the second day of the event. Indiana climbed up one spot from the first day and ended in 13th place. Cesare was once again the leader for the cream and crimson as he finished his day at 1-over-par, leaving him with a 6-over, 216 weekend and in 22nd place.
Merchent and Piesen tied for 50th overall and each shot a 221. Bender III finished at 64th overall and shot a 225. Starnes finished in 77th after shooting a 229.
No one caught Notre Dame as it ran away with the tournament at 5-under-par as a team. That score beat second-place Purdue by 11 shots. Sophomore Rocco Salvitti was the leading scorer for the Fighting Irish at 3-under-par for the tournament.
The Hoosiers will next head to Vero Beach, Florida, to compete in the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational on Oct. 13 at the Quail Valley Golf Course.
